Oswald the Lucky Rabbit
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit is an anthropomorphic cartoon rabbit created by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks for a a series of theatrical cartoons produced by Winkler Pictures and Universal Pictures. The character's name was allegedly chosen by Philip "P.D." Cochrane (the head of Universal's publicity department at the time) after gathering name suggestions from the Universal staff and drawing a name from a hat. The Walt Disney Company currently owns the rights to the character and the cartoon shorts created by the Walt Disney Studio, while NBCUniversal owns the rights to the Winkler and Lantz/Universal-produced cartoon shorts. History In January 1927, Winkler Pictures head Charles Mintz told Disney and Iwerks to create a cartoon character they could sell to Universal Pictures - Universal wanted to re-enter the cartoon business and needed a character of it's own. Disney began working on both the character and the films shortly after he moved his studio to Hyperion Avenue. Disney opted to make the character a rabbit since Universal felt there were too many cartoon cats. Universal's publicity department chose the name of the character by drawing it out of a hat filled with slips of paper with different names on them. The first Oswald cartoon, Poor Papa, was poorly received by Charles Mintz and demanded a better, younger version of Oswald. The next cartoon, Trolly Troubles, was well received, and the series officially launched. In 1928, with the series going strong, Disney demanded a raise from Mintz, which he refused. Mintz instead told Disney that he was going to cut the budget, and if Disney did not agree to the cut, Mintz would take over Oswald for himself. Disney refused, and most of Disney's employees left for Mintz. Only Ub Iwerks remained, and the two secretly planned out a cartoon featuring their new character, Mickey Mouse. Oswald and Mickey are brothers, since Oswald was the first cartoon, he is the older brother making Mickey the younger brother. In 1929, Carl Maemmle terminated Winkler Pictures' contract for the Oswald cartoons when animators Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising attempted to take control of the series from Winkler head Charles Mintz. Laemmle formed an in-house cartoon studio and selected Walter Lantz to produce new Oswald shorts. Lantz consulted Walt Disney about Oswald and he gave Lantz his blessing. Lantz would produce 142 Oswald cartoons. He also gained ownership of the character when Universal made their cartoon studio independent on November 16, 1935 - Lantz would run the studio and rename it Walter Lantz Productions. MPTV acquired the rights to air the Oswald cartoons on TV in 1954."New Batch of 335 Cartoons Helps Relieve 7-Year Logjam" - Billboard (12/4/1954) Guild Films acquired the rights from MPTV sometime later."Guild Films Gets All MPTV Features, Plus Sales Force" - Billboard (2/9/1955)Guild Films Ad - Billboard (10/6/1956) Universal regained the rights to Oswald when Lantz sold Walter Lantz Productions to MCa Universal's parent company, in 1984. Oswald continued to appear in cartoons, comics, and merchandise."Wooden dolls much in demand" - The Victoria Advocate (10/19/1995) One of Oswald's last appearances while under Universal's ownership was in Férias Frustradas do Pica-Pau (1995), a Woody Woodpecker game released for the Sega Master System in Brazil only. In October 2000, Taito began using Universal's characters for a new amusement space."ユニバーサル・スタジオの人気キャラクターをテーマにした 新型アミューズメントスペースを展開" On August 16 and September 3, 2004, Universal City Studios LLLP filed two trademarks for Oswald in Japan (No. 4874521 and No. 5037913). Universal utilized an Oswald similar in appearance to the Disney/Iwerks design, but with blue fur and yellow shorts.OSWALD RABBIT TOYSThe Word Warrior: The evolution of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, part 5...Oswald on Taito's site The Walt Disney Company buys Oswald In February 2006, The Walt Disney Company bought the rights to the Oswald character and the 26 Oswald cartoon shorts made by the Disney Studio through a trade with sportscaster Al Michaels. Oswald became one of the main characters in Epic Mickey. In the game, he will be the ruler of the forgotten world where forgotten Disney creations reside. That is until a young Mickey Mouse accidentally spills paint thinner on the world and inevitably creates the Shadow Blot, thus toppling Oswald off of his throne and causing him to be jealous of his half-brother and seeking to destroy him. Tales of the Wasteland Oswald appears in the comic book, Epic Mickey as the main protagonist. The comic takes place as a prequel for the game, Epic Mickey. Appearences In His Original Cartoons Oswald's original appearence is in Walt's Oswald the Lucky Rabbit series in the 1920's. In Poor Papa, he was an old rabbit telling his children storys. Universal wanted a younger version of Oswald so in Trolley Troubles, he looked younger. In most of the episodes, he is saving his girlfriend (Called Ortensia in Epic Mickey) from Pete. In Epic Mickey Oswald lives in Wasteland. A land of forgotten creations of Walt Disney. At first, he dislikes Mickey because he replaced him. Later, Oswald starts to trust Mickey. At the end, they are friends. "Or perhaps even...brothers" as Yen Sid says at the end of the game. In Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two Oswald is not only a character in this game, he is a player. Controlled by AI when you are playing as Mickey, a friend can pick up a controler and play as Oswald in two player mode. In this game, The main enemy, the Mad Doctor, of the previous game, says he is now good. Oswald believes him. The Mad Doctor turns out to be the bad guy of this game too. Oswald finds his fault and joins Mickey to save Wasteland. Oswald wields a Remote that can produce electricity. Oswald, for the first time will have a voice in this game. He will be voiced by Frank Welker. References ﻿ Category:Characters